A 50 year-old New Hampshire woman was fatally injured after the ATV she was driving went off a 12-foot embankment into a gravel pit.

The victim, who went missing after she drove her ATV into the woods Thursday afternoon was found dead early Friday morning by a gravel pit worker who walks the pit every morning.

A local emergency official said the accident was caused by operator inexperience with ATVs. She was not wearing a helmet or any other safety gear, the official said.

Rescuers searched by land and air Thursday night into early Friday morning for the missing woman. A helicopter from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. scoured the woods from above with personnel using night vision goggles and a heat-seeking device.

In addition to the helicopter, approximately nine individuals searched the woods on ATVs. Civilians who were familiar with the area were also aiding in the search on their own ATVs, Roy said.

The death is under investigation by the Maine Warden Service and further details will be released when they become available, Davis said.